Please Quote For This One

[YourBigEvent 0]

THIS IS A MADE UP SITUATION AND I DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH YOU CHARGE, JUST TO HAVE A GENERAL IDEA

 

Dear sirs

 

My daughter is getting married on 23rd August 2009 at J.Bloggs hotel, I know this is only 30 miles away from your office, and it is an easy access with no stairs and ample free parking so I thought I would like you to give me a quote please on the following details

 

Date of wedding is 23rd August 2009

Venue is J.Bloggs Hotels Ltd, Anytown

Start time is 2000hrs (although we may require a 1900hrs start)

Finish time is 0000hrs (although we may require a 0100hrs finish)

We require some 'mood lighting' too, so we can change the colour of the room to a colour of our choice

The first dance is only available on Chris Shepards Greatest Hits, which as you know is only available in Norway

 

Please can you quote me a price for the 2000 - 0000hrs with mood lighting to start with

 

Many thanks

 

Paddy O'Dors

[supersound dj 0]

£120-£140 Thats all you will get in Cleveland and even then they might say no its too much.

 

Paul

[Andy Westcott 0]

I can't accommodate her requirements, so would decline this one.

 

I know a dodgy DJ in Ipplepen who may do this on the cheap... :)

[Dream Catchers 0]

I don't do mood lighting so cannot quote.

 

Jim

[Danno13 0]

No such thing as can't/don't tongue out icon Find someone else locally who can provide that part and add it to your quote.

[alicat 0]

How much do you value your Daughters' Wedding day entertainment?.

 

Mood lighting? DMX No Problem. White cloth. No problem. Starcloth. No problem. ETC.

 

Oh, have you seen me perform before?

[Kingy 0]

Does it mean coming within 30 miles of Mr Harris.......???

 

There is not enough.....

 

I have quoted assuming the 1900 start 0100 finish as I can see that being added on without an offer of increased payment.

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

£100 and free beer and buffet.

[Bouncy Dancefloor 0]

will there be hot drunken bridesmaids? If so ill do it for free, providing you supply a room, if not one of the Bridesmaids rooms will do :p

[Wayno 0]

My quote genorator came back at a touch Below £490.00 then i chucked £15 on for the chris shepperds greatest hits.

Would you like me to send you the contract, I only require a 50% reservation fee :)

[Paul Smith 0]

There you go Andy - you've had quotes from under £100 to over £1,000 - hope that helps :shrug:

[Dream Catchers 0]

No such thing as can't/don't tongue out icon Find someone else locally who can provide that part and add it to your quote.

OK I can quote. but I would need to get in touch with other people who do the mood lighting and that is something that I am not interested in, just as I won't quote for flowers, the dress or the cars. :joe:

 

Jim

[Danno13 0]

Well it's in our line of busines, same as if you were needed for a gig for 1000 people you'd probably look to hire extra PA. I never like to say "no" to a client (within reason), as it gives them reason to go elsewhere.

Edited October 2, 2008 by Danno13

[NRG Roadshow 0]

The astounding thing to me is that for all that......

 

6 people so far would charge less than £100!!!!!

6 people put themselfs in the £125 - £150 bracket!!!!

 

You 12 people surely cant be serious!

And if you are serious then I have one question for you.....

 

Why are you prepared to PAY the customer money for the right to DJ at their wedding?

(because that is effectively what your doing, working for free and making a loss)

 

And as for the........

 

"thats all you will get in ___________" comments......

 

You obviously need to improve your marketing skills, I used to think that about my area too......but its so not true and their are higher quality of clients ALL over the country!

 

[deejaymitch 0]

How would those 12 people be making a loss? Say, for argument's sake, their only outlay will be petrol and an imported CD? Even at today's petrol prices, they are still looking at making a profit.

[Danno13 0]

On going costs of running the business, investment in equipment...

 

I couldn't make a profit doing the lighting alone at £100-150, let alone provide my DJ abilities for 4-5 hours as well.

Edited October 2, 2008 by Danno13

[Gary (GDK) 0]

About £160 for me without mood lightening then the cost of hire on top.

 

I quoted £140 to a perpestive client the 2 days ago, the wife wanted to book it, sent the paperwork out etc and today he rhusband rang and said ive found someone cheaper than that...

 

I said well I might be charging a little more for my services but it's about the quality of service. He said bo:cense:ocks. I went well thanks for your call, and remeber if you pay peanuts you get monkies!!

 

But the customer is always right!

[Dream Catchers 0]

Well it's in our line of busines, same as if you were needed for a gig for 1000 people you'd probably look to hire extra PA. I never like to say "no" to a client (within reason), as it gives them reason to go elsewhere.

It's not in my line of business, I'm a DJ not an internal decorator.

If a gig is for 1000 guests then it is still a gig so yes maybe hire more kit, but it is still the same service, as would be a gig for 20 people.

I know that quite a few DJs have branched out into the mood lighting, chocolate fountains and chair covers, but that has nothing to do with being a DJ.

 

Jim

Edited October 2, 2008 by JimBoylan

[NRG Roadshow 0]

How would those 12 people be making a loss? Say, for argument's sake, their only outlay will be petrol and an imported CD? Even at today's petrol prices, they are still looking at making a profit.

 

Do you really need me to explain that to you?

 

Lets start with, the constant purchase of music to keep upto date......I spend around £20-30 a week on music.........so thats £30 gone out the £120 for a start.

 

Next.......hire of equipment. The general rule of thumb which most people apply for equipment hire to take into account recouping the initial expense and also depreciation of value, is 10% of the purchase price per day of hire.......so your modest £3000 rig would cost £300 to hire.

 

Wages.........ok lets say Im not greedy and will work for £7.50 per hour........4 hour gig.....two hours of setting up and packing away......two hours for travel to and from the venue, thats now 8 hours!

So thats another £60.

 

Then add on fuel for travel to and from the gig thats another £20.

 

So......lets now do the working out.....

 

£150 gig fee

less £300 rig hire fee

less £60 my wages

less £20 fuel

less £15 music costs (lets say I do two gigs a week so its £15 cost for each customer)

 

total - -£245.00

 

So you would be in effect paying the customer £245.00 to DJ at their wedding!

 

Ok so I have fabricated the above figuires because I dont know what the actual costs are but I dont think my figuires are too far off the mark.

 

So what I dont get at all, is WHY do it if your not going to make any money out of it?

All these people are doing is killing the industry for the rest of us proffesionals who are trying to make a living out of it!

 

 

[Dukesy 0]

Do you really need me to explain that to you?

 

What's with the attitude? Does professionalism end at the keyboard then!?

 

I don't know why figures have to be fabricated these days if everyone is supposedly setting aside for Tax, NI and the ProDub flyer?

 

I wouldn't get into a virtual fuss whether you know the figures or not. Nobody wins an argument on the internet and there are more important things for us to discuss like how to encourage newbie DJs to take up the role, how we can lead better by example, encourage DJs to follow good business practice, turn up at a gig and not let people down, etc, etc, etc.

[deejaymitch 0]

Do you really need me to explain that to you?

 

Lets start with, the constant purchase of music to keep upto date......I spend around £20-30 a week on music.........so thats £30 gone out the £120 for a start.

 

Next.......hire of equipment. The general rule of thumb which most people apply for equipment hire to take into account recouping the initial expense and also depreciation of value, is 10% of the purchase price per day of hire.......so your modest £3000 rig would cost £300 to hire.

 

Wages.........ok lets say Im not greedy and will work for £7.50 per hour........4 hour gig.....two hours of setting up and packing away......two hours for travel to and from the venue, thats now 8 hours!

So thats another £60.

 

Then add on fuel for travel to and from the gig thats another £20.

 

So......lets now do the working out.....

 

£150 gig fee

less £300 rig hire fee

less £60 my wages

less £20 fuel

less £15 music costs (lets say I do two gigs a week so its £15 cost for each customer)

 

total - -£245.00

 

So you would be in effect paying the customer £245.00 to DJ at their wedding!

 

Ok so I have fabricated the above figuires because I dont know what the actual costs are but I dont think my figuires are too far off the mark.

 

So what I dont get at all, is WHY do it if your not going to make any money out of it?

All these people are doing is killing the industry for the rest of us proffesionals who are trying to make a living out of it!

 

 

Or alternatively:

 

Night spent sitting at home watching Eastenders - £0 income

Night spent DJ-ing at a wedding - £100 clear profit (after petrol and CD purchase) and possible further bookings.

 

Either way I'll have spent the same amount of money on my equipment and keeping my music collection up to date. Other than the petrol and buying the CD there is no additional cost for equipment I already own and music I would have bought anyway.

 

I'll echo Dukesy's comment about your attitude, and I'm disgusted at your "killing the industry" comment. It could be argued that the DJs that are pricing a disco out of the range of the average punter, who are turning to the I-Pod alternative, are doing more damage than anyone else.

 

As things stand there are a number of talented, legal, reliable, professional DJs offering quality service at a wide range of prices, making the industry accessible to the majority of the population and allowing a lot of people to make a decent living out of it, and many to make a very good living. If, as you seem to wish, everyone charged a similar (inflated?) rate, the number of available bookings would not be there as, whilst some people will pay the higher rate, many others won't. The result is more DJs competing for fewer jobs and being seen by a smaller base of potential new clients. Is that good for the industry?

 

[YourBigEvent 0]

Agree with djmitchy boy here

 

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to pay for my van insurance

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to pay for my PLI

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to pay for my adverts, wherever they might be

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to pay for my mortgage

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to go shopping for food

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have to pay my council tax

EVERY SINGLE WEEK I have 101 other things to pay for

 

Therefore I have earn £x per week to keep above water

 

Expenses for the gig mentioned

 

30 miles at £5.50 per gallon = £5.50

CD's for event £15

 

Total outlay £20

 

If I quoted £150 for the gig, as you have below, I would walk out at midnight £130 up. Call it 'wages' if you want, if so, as you have stated it will take 6 hours to go the whole gig, that is £22 per hour in round figures.

 

If I didn't do the job I would save myself £20, and at midnight know how who got knocked out of Strictly Come Dancing, but be £80 worse off

 

And don't even think about coming back saying depreciation on the equipment, if I spent £1000 on kit tomorrow, and never use it it will still be worth roughly the same as if I used it every week for the next two years, in two years time.

 

Now do the figures...

 

 

 

[Wayno 0]

Nick, I think you have missed your other expenses.

PLI

PAT

Van/car insurance (as in on the level working as a DJ/carry Dj gear and not neglecting to tell the underwriters)

pro dub (if required)

Bank Interest charges

Telephone bill - mobile

Telephone bill - landline

van repairs/tyres etc

tax/ni

cost of staionary and consumables

the list goes on and on for a legitimate disco

the list gets even longer if it is also a full time profession.

 

I am a little suprised at YBE as according to your calculations you don't pay tax/NI! ;-)

And I cant believe for one minute that it only costs £20 to put a show out, Im going to need a tissue!

 

Edited October 2, 2008 by Wayno

[Dukesy 0]

Before we go any further - this ain't no witch hunt. Let's keep everything civil even if hot under the collar!

 

Here is an actual examle of a DJs outgoings. I've used it before recently.

The DJ said he worked out he personally needs to clear £1543.31 per month or £356.14 per week, (or broken down further £50.87 per day!)

His mortgage, council tax and water bills total over £950.00 per month and he spends around £220 a month on food.

These are his figures broken down, however, purchases such as music, fuel, repairs have not been included here:

Telephone, advertising and stationary - £38.46 per week

(Office Use) Electricity & Heating - £10.57 per week

Vehicle Insurance and Breakdown Cover - £10 per week

Mobile Phone and wi-fi (PAYG) - £10 per week

Equipment Insurance £4.23 per week

Car tax - £3.55

Web Host - £3.25 per week

PAT - £2.79 per week

National Insurance - £2.35 per week

PLI Insurance (£10m) - £0.95p per week

These weekly outgoings brought forward totalled £86.15.

This works out as £373.31 per month.

His fee is £315 per gig which includes provision for tax, a 15% mark up and £66 for fuel (tank) although this varies slightly for seasonal bookings. His reservation fee is £50 and he accepts the balance either 14 days before the function or cash on night.

He charges £30 per half hour entered for overtime.

He has little need to purchase albums or downloads as he is a specialist retro disco service but still buys music if required.

His diary is pretty busy with private bookings until December, with parties booked here and there for next year, and he's looking at adding £10 to his fee next April.

He said he refuses to work directly for venues who pay less than £250 per gig.

Asked how much he would charge if he had a full time job and DJ'd part-time, would he buy the Pro Dub Licence and how worried was he about his own future of DJ'ing, he said he would charge around £150 - £200 a gig, that the licence didn't apply to his service and that the future was pretty uncertain although so far, not too bad for him!

[TonyB 0]

 

30 miles at £5.50 per gallon = £5.50

CD's for event £15

 

Total outlay £20

 

 

Are you not coming back then? If its 30 miles there, wouldn't it be 30 miles back? :hide: smile icon